


A Companion's Feelings

by sylphiawings



Series: The Life and Times of Aera Sylvarant [4]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Longing, Talking Animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:27:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26301151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sylphiawings/pseuds/sylphiawings
Summary: Aera's Chocobo, Stiria, was a lively one, Seto mused.
Series: The Life and Times of Aera Sylvarant [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1906948
Kudos: 8
Collections: #FFxivWrite2020 Final Fantasy 30 Day Writing Challenge





	A Companion's Feelings

**Author's Note:**

> There are mild 5.0 ShB spoilers, you have been warned!
> 
> This is a small drabble for the 30-day #FFxivWrite2020 challenge on Tumblr by [Moen Moen](https://sea-wolf-coast-to-coast.tumblr.com/)! This story is based on the third prompt, [Day 3: Muster.](https://sea-wolf-coast-to-coast.tumblr.com/post/628264434955173888/prompt-3-muster)

_Kweeeeh,_ the blue chocobo called out as Aera started to feed her some Krakka Roots.

"Good girl, Stiria," Aera smiled as she patted her trusty chocobo and her closest companion.

They were in Wolekdorf, the skies above Il Mheg turning orange as the sun was starting to dip under the horizon. The faerie lights were starting to light up, and Titania's castle was glowing brightly in the distance. They had just finished slaying an A-rank hunt for the Nutsy Clan, and even though it took her and a couple of other adventurers to take it down, Aera and her blue chocobo Stiria didn't seem fazed.

 _Kweeeeh! Kweh,_ Stiria started to cheerfully nibble on her favorite snack. Aera noticed that she always seemed to be happiest when she took her flying in Il Mheg. Was it because of the view?

"A bright chocobo she seems to be," a deep voice resounded.

Aera turned, and she saw Seto looking down at them from above, nesting in his usual area near the Wolekdorf aetheryte. His eyes were glinting, a semblance of a smile on his Amaro features as he observed Aera and her chocobo.

"She certainly is," Aera smiled, patting Stiria as she was still happily munching on her roots. The chocobo's feathers fluttered comfortably under her touch.

"How long have you two been traveling together?" Seto asked.

Aera put her hand on her chin. "She's been with me for a while, now," she thought aloud. "It has been almost... a decade now, perhaps," she counted using her fingers. "We were separated during a calamity in our homeland, but she found her way back to me."

Seto laughed, a deep rumble resounding from his throat. "Well! You two will be together for a long while yet," he fluttered his wings in excitement.

 _Kweeeeeeh!_ Stiria joined him by fluttering her wings.

Aera chuckled. "She seems to like you, Seto," she patted Stiria again. She then looked down at her meal, the feeding area already empty. "And she's a big eater too... Forgive me, Seto, but would you give me a moment? I need to gather more greens for this glutton here," Aera smiled in exasperation.

"Take as long as you need," Seto acquiesced. "I shall keep young Stiria company."

With that, Aera nodded and gave Stiria's head one last stroke before she teleported to the nearest merchant to buy new greens.

As Stiria started pruning her wings, Seto observed her keenly. "I wonder... do companions in your world eventually gain speech?" he thought aloud.

 _Kweh?_ Stiria looked up at him, tilting her head.

Seto chuckled, lowering deeper into his nest, so that he could be eye-level with Stiria's smaller form. "When I was your age, child, I knew only to follow my master's orders, but oh, what adventures we had," he reminisced. His eyes turned glassy from the memory. "You are but a small chick still fresh from the nest compared to us Amaro, but you've been through so much with Aera. I can tell."

 _Kweh, kweh!_ Stiria puffed her wings out, as if in pride.

Seto laughed again. "You can understand me, now, can you?" he touched the tip of Stiria's nuzzle with his own, only momentarily. But in that moment, he felt the devotion this young chocobo had for her master - much like the one he had for his own, many, many centuries ago. The feeling filled him with nostalgia. Stiria was barely two decades old, and yet, he could see the experience in her eyes, in her feathers, in her claws.

 _Kweh, kweh kweeeeh,_ Stiria started to call out.

"I see," Seto nodded. "So you searched for her endlessly after this... calamity?" he asked.

 _Kweh,_ Stiria's eyes drooped, as if in pain. _Kweh kweeeh, kweh._

"Five years of searching? I see," Seto shivered. "How did you find your way back to her?"

 _Kweeeeeeh! Kweh!_ Stiria jumped excitedly.

Seto laughed, a loud guffaw that made the other Amaro in Wolekdorf turn their head, but Seto paid it no mind. "What a story," he said, mirth in his words.

 _Kweh,_ Stiria stared at the space where Aera had teleported moments earlier.

"I see," Seto said. "She must be very important to you."

 _Kweeeh!_ Stiria jumped happily.

"Shall I tell her?" Seto asked. "Of your feelings? Do spare no detail, little one."

At this, Stiria seemed to hesitate. _Kweh kweh kweh,_ she said, tucking her head inside of her wing.

Seto chuckled. "If you do not muster the courage to say it now, little one, you may never get the chance," he said forlornly. "I lost my chance with Ardbert. I do not wish for you to lose yours with Aera."

Stiria looked up at the large Amaro, and her head tilted. He wasn't sure if she understood his meaning or not, as 'longing' was a foreign concept for a chick so young - but then Stiria seemingly nodded, her eyes twinkling. _Kweh,_ she simply said. He wasn't sure whether that was a yes or a no.

From the corner of his eye, he saw a blink and a small light appear next to the Wolekdorf aetheryte, and Aera appeared, carrying a satchel. As she approached him and Stiria, the young chocobo chirped excitedly.

"Here you go, girl," Aera said, taking out one Krakka Root and feeding her by hand.

 _Kweh!_ Stiria said happily, nuzzling her face into Aera's.

Surprised, Aera patted her. "Stiria, what's gotten into you?" she laughed, holding her chocobo's face in her hands, nuzzling her back. "Did you enjoy your time with Seto?"

 _Kweh,_ Stiria simply said, and gave the large Amaro a look which he could only interpret as a shared secret.

"She is a young and lively one," Seto laughed. "I hope you two stay together for a long while yet."

"That's the plan," Aera beamed as she stroked Stiria's head.

 _Kweh!_ Stiria simply chirped happily, continuing to munch on her new snack. Seto's mind flash-backed to a simpler time, when Ardbert used to feed him greens often after a long stretch of flight. If only he could say the words that he could now, to Ardbert back then. Oh, if only. His eyes gleamed with nostalgia seeing Aera and Stiria.

He only hoped that this young chocobo, Stiria, would relay her feelings as soon as she could, before it was too late.


End file.
